BLACK SHIP

The video is based on L.S Lowrys’ paintings –

Entering Harbour (1959)

Ship at Sea (1960)

Princess Dock, Glasgow (1947)

The lighthouse is Souter Lighthouse, photograph taken by O Johnson.

DARK EYES

For the video Dark Eyes, the original portrait is such a haunting and beautiful picture and one where I imagined if Ann could close her eyes, what would she dream? Of course, being a Lowry picture it had to be the sea.

The background sea picture is one of his seascapes – The Sea 1963. Both pictures are in the Lowry collection in Salford, UK.

SEA WHISPER

This video, Sea Whisper, is based on one of his later sea pictures – The Sea 1970 . I wanted to try and create the illusion of movement and light on the sea as it is constantly changing and evolving. A thing of great beauty and power. As Lowry said himself

“It’s the battle of life – the turbulence of the sea […] I have been fond of the sea all my life, how wonderful it is, yet how terrible it is. But I often think […] what if it suddenly changed its mind and didn’t turn the tide? And came straight on? If it didn’t stay and came on and on and on and on […] That would be the end of it all.”

SKIPPING ROPES

This film is based on that small sketch. Sunderland was at one time, the biggest exporter of Lime, It had world class Glass works and Potteries, It imported sisal for rope and paper and it was the original centre for Shipbuilding in the North East. Among all this industry, children played, especially skipping and Lowry painted many scenes of children playing among the Industrial landscapes of the North. However, with demolition came change and closure. The end of the track has a tune I used to sing when skipping – The Big Ship – and so the film has a nod towards the big ships that used to sail down the Wear River.

The last left the yard on the 7th. December,1988. The Lowry paintings in this film are –

River Wear, Sunderland (1961), Francis Street, Salford (1957), The School Yard (1930) and Children Playing, Failsworth.

Other images used are of the old industries of Sunderland including the Potteries, North Hylton, George Clarks Shipbuilders (1960), Gasworks and Rivets, South Hylton as well as the demolition of the Old Town Hall.

HYPNOTIC GREY

Hypnotic Grey is a track based on one of the many sea pictures Lowry created – The Sea 1963 – which is in the Lowry collection in Salford.

DAISY CHAIN

This video took the longest time to create. When I first saw the picture, Children Playing (1952), the four girls skipping along holding hands looked, to me, like a daisy chain. Hence the title of the track. I just created a vey long daisy chain of girls for the video. Paintings used by Lowry are: Hillside in Wales (1962) Children Playing (1952) and I used some characters found in The Cripples (1949)

NOT WAVING…

The video for Not Waving… is based on Man Drowning with Fish,

a sketch in the Sunderland Collection, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.

It is a wonderful curio and my favourite of all Lowys’ artworks. Why? Simply it is both a sketch of fun and magic but also one of poignancy and sadness. When I first saw the sketch I instantly thought of my favourite poem by Stevie Smith ‘Not waving but drowning…’ Both sketch and poem, seemed to me, meant to be together.

Nobody heard him, the dead man,But still he lay moaning:I was much further out than you thoughtAnd not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larkingAnd now he’s deadIt must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always(Still the dead one lay moaning)I wasmuch too far out all my lifeAnd not waving but drowning.

The pictures used are: The Sea at Sunderland (1965) Man drowning with fish (Sunderland Museum collection)

CROWDS

The video for Crowds tries to show how Lowry populated many of his pictures with crowds of people and contrary to popular belief, they had their individuality, they were not just matchstick but had plenty of character. By using the process that I have the people can be seen not just as one mass but as defined. For this video the sections of the crowds used come from

Lancashire Fair Good Friday 1946

Railway Station 1953

Manchester City v Sheffield United 1938

Funfair at Daisy Nook 1953

July, the Seaside 1943

An Organ Grinder 1934

STONES

DOGS

Many of Lowrys’ paintings and sketches include the eponymous little black dog (s) and so I couldn’t leave them out musically.

In Dogs, a pair of little black dogs go for their morning walk through an imaginary town made up of Lowry sketches. The starting and finishing point is based on an old photograph of The Half Moon Inn in Sunderland at about the turn of the Twentieth Century. The original black and white sketches by Lowry are: Dewars Lane, Berwick-on-Tweed (1936) Palace Street Street Scene Stockport (1930) Old Steps, Stockport (1969-70) Old Street, FailsworthPeel Park Sketch#4 1919Richmond HillSally Port, Berwick (1954) Junction Street, Stony Brow, Ancoats (1929) Furtherinformation can be found at The Lowry – www.thelowry.com

MONOLITH

“I believe every human creature is an island,”… “Had I not been lonely, none of my work would have happened.”

The pictures used are: Self Portrait as a Pillar in the Sea (1966)and The Sea (1963). The photographs are Lowry by Sefton Samuels (1968), Lowry at the top of Wellington Bridge Steps, Stockport with the viaduct and River Mersey in the background (1962).

PENNIES

Pennies is the final track on the album and is about the unusual penny ride in Redcar, in the North East of England. The tiny sketch the track is based on, shows a lot of happy children riding the horse drawn boat on wheels, that ran along the seafront for a penny – a – ride.

There is an old photograph which can be found at Remember When – www.Gazettelive.co.uk As I couldn’t find the sketch, I imagined one of Lowrys’ children taking a ride in The Cart (1959) around an imaginary seaside town made up of some of Lowrys’ seaside pictures.

Her red balloon is a nod to one of my favourite films – Le Ballon Rouge (1956).

Paintings used for the film are: July, the Seaside (1943) At the Seaside (1946) On the Promenade (1955) The Cart (1959) The Estuary (1956) Yachts (1959) Ferry Boats (1960)